Something Good Can Work
by Cypher113
Summary: Silas and Casey thought that they met for the first time in the 1-6's squadroom, but what if they met much earier, and didn't even know it? What if fate had them meet on the worst day in American history? C/OC


**Title: **Something Good Can Work

**Fandom: **Law &Order: SVU

**Pairing:** Casey/OC

**Rating:** T

**Spoilers:** Once again, none for the series, but yes to my other story "Shnovak"

**Disclaimers: **Dick owns everyone… except Shag, him I own. I wish Dick owned him, though, because then Casey wouldn't have left and she and Silas could have lived happily ever after… *rants*

**AN: **Well hello again! My life has been uber busy, so I haven't had time to post this, and for that I am very sorry.

I had actually written this way back in September, right after the 9th anniversary of 9/11. I personally didn't lose anyone on that tragic day, but I did have friends who lost family and friends, so my deepest sympathies to all who lost loved ones on that day.

The title is from the song 'Something Good Can Work' by Two Door Cinema Club, because the whole point of this it to show that something good can work out, even in a tragedy like this.

This one goes out to EOsvu, and anyone who lost loved ones on 9/11.

XXX

_9/11/2001 6:48 a.m._

"Come back to bed…" Silas Shag glanced over his shoulder to a half-awake Alex Cabot, who was waving a long thin arm in the air, motioning him to join her in her king sized bed.

Silas shook his head and returned to the file he was reading. "Can't sleep."

He heard Alex groping around for her glasses. "Again?"

"Yep."

"This is starting to become a problem, Silas," He glanced over to Alex, who was sitting up, hair mused, glasses crooked on her face. "You should see a doctor or something."

Silas shrugged. "Eh, I've been up for a few days working on this serial case; I just don't want to sleep right now with this guy on the loose."

"Working on the profile?"

"White male, mid-thirties, late forties; sexually inadequate." He said in his best federal agent voice.

"What else?"

"That's it."

"That's it?" Alex repeated. "You just described about half of the men I know."

Silas sighed. "I know. The M.O. is inconsistent, there is no visible signature, different victimology… this guy's all over the map!"

Alex stood up, made her way over to Silas, and ran her hands through his long black hair; he had decided to grow it and his beard out, like his dad's, in a "desire to get closer to his dead father". Alex just called it a phase, but she didn't really care; it looked sexy on him. "Why don't you go get some coffee, and I'll look it over; fresh eyes wouldn't hurt, right?"

Silas wanted to say something along the lines of _'Trust me, half of the BAU's looked this over and we can't find anything, so you probably won't' _but he held his tongue. "Alright." He stood up. "I'll be back soon. Where'd you throw my pants?"

XXX

_7:38 a.m._

Being a grad student sucked, Casey Novak decided as she sucked down her third cup of coffee.

She had been up for about thirty-six hours straight studying (actually, cramming would be a more appropriate term) for two exams, both of which she probably failed. Now she had to go wait on all of her rich bastard classmates to pay for her education, because her dad didn't own a billion dollar company and her mom wasn't a politician. The more she thought about this, the more Casey thought about revising her previous statement. Her whole life sucked.

Then Casey remembered that she had to walk six blocks to get to work.

Yep, life thoroughly sucked.

At least it was a nice day.

XXX

_8:43 a.m._

'_Geeze,'_ Silas thought as he walked out of the coffee shop, balancing two cups of coffee as he held the door for a little old lady. _'Why does Alex have to have _this_ coffee, from _this_ coffee shop? Doesn't she know it's a twenty minute walk?' _Then Silas remembered that she drove a very nice Mercedes everywhere, including this expensive rich bastard coffee shop. That was the difference between the Cabots and the Shags; Cabots flaunted their wealth, Shags (for the most part) didn't.

"Oh well." Silas said aloud, to no one in particular. "It's a nice day for a walk…"

He looked up; not a single cloud in the blue sky. Something caught his eye. A plane? Maybe, but it was flying too low, and JFK was in the other direction…

"Oh my God…" Silas breathed. The plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center just as the cups of coffee Silas was holding hit the ground.

XXX

_8:46 a.m._

Casey stopped dead in her tracks. "What the hell was that?" A man a few feet away from her asked.

Casey looked at him. "You heard it too?"

The man nodded. "Yeah. What was it?"

Casey looked up and in the general direction of where the noise (it had sounded like an explosion) had come from.

The World Trade Center, which towered above them, looked down at them. The North Tower was on fire.

"Holy shit…" the man whispered. "Let's go check it out."

Casey glanced at the man. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

He shrugged. "Dunno, but I'm checkin' it out." He began to walk towards the Towers, looking up the whole time.

Casey looked around; people were either staring up, on their cell phones, walking towards the burning building, or all of the above.

Casey swallowed, and began walking closer to the Towers.

XXX

_8:48 a.m._

Silas pulled out his phone, snapped a picture, and sent it to his boss.

About three seconds later, his phone rang.

"Shag." He answered, even though he already knew who it was.

"Shag!" his boss screamed into his ear. "What the hell is going on?"

Silas inhaled. "I believe there has been a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center." He said as quietly as he could, so that the people around him wouldn't hear. That was the last thing anyone needed right now; panic.

"What?"

"A plane hit the North Tower, just a few minutes ago." Silas explained quickly. "Now, I don't know for sure, it could have just been an accident…"

"_Sonofabitch_!" The chief swore. "Listen Shag, you help out where you are, I'll try to reach you soon."

"Yessir." Silas snapped his phone shut, and began to push his way through the crowd. "Federal agent, let me through!" He heard sirens wailing in the background.

XXX

_8:57 a.m._

Casey kept walking until she hit a wall of bystanders, all of who were staring up and chattering away.

"What happened?" She asked.

"A bomb went off." A man standing next to her said in a matter-of-factly tone.

"No," A little old lady on the other side of her argued. "A plane hit the building."

"I don't think so." The man replied.

"I know what I saw!" The lady snapped.

"Was it an accident?" Casey interjected.

"Listen lady," Another man glared at her. "We know just as much as you do, so shut up."

Casey rolled her eyes and looked up, just in time to see another plane smash into the South Tower.

XXX

_9:04 a.m._

Silas couldn't believe it. Two planes. This wasn't an accident. He began shoving his way through the crowd. "Federal agent! LET ME THROUGH!"

After what felt like hours of fighting his way through the panicking crowd, he made it to the police barrier.

He jogged up to a police officer who was yelling at people to get back. "You too, caveman!" He pointed to Silas, clearly referencing his long hair and beard.

Silas held up his credentials. "SSA Silas Shag of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit." He said, not even caring that the officer had called him a caveman. "Tell me what you need me to do and I'll do it."

"Oh geeze not the feds, not now…" the officer groaned, rolling his eyes.

Silas glared at the man. "I'm not a fed right now, ok? I'm a volunteer; tell me what you need me to do, and I'll do it."

The officer looked at Silas strangely. "… Alright. Just keep them all back for now." He motioned to the crowd.

Silas gave the man a small smile. "Thank you." He turned and began walking towards the crowd.

"No, thank you, Agent Shag." Silas heard the man call back over the sound of sirens.

XXX

_9:51 a.m._

Casey found herself moving closer and closer, until she reached the police blockade. She saw a man who looked like he had been pulled right out of the sixties, with his long hair and beard, and then stuck into a suit, arguing with another man.

"… I don't know sir!" The hippie in the suit said, clearly frustrated. "But it's for your own safety that you stay back here!"

"My son works in the North Tower!" The other man shouted. "I want to see if he's ok!"

"Sir, there will be every opportunity for you to see your son, but for now, you need to stay back here."

The man threw up his arms and walked away; Casey heard him say something along the lines of "… I hope rot in hell, you son-of-a-bitch. I'm going to find someone with a soul who'll let me through…"

Casey walked up to the man. "Excuse me! Excuse me!"

The man looked at her. "Ma'am, I need you to get behind the barrier."

"What's going on?" Casey demanded.

"Ma'am please, for your own safety-"

"Yeah, I know, stay back there…" Casey rolled her eyes. "…Do… do you need any help?"

"No, ma'am." He pointed back towards the rest of the crowd. "Please, for your safety-" He paused when he heard a creaking noise. He slowly turned around, to look towards the Towers. The South Tower was falling.

XXX

_9:59 a.m._

Silas watched the Tower fall in horror for a second.

After that second only one though was in his head: RUN.

He grabbed the red-head's arm and sprinted as fast as he could in the opposite direction. "We need to get the fuck out of here!" He shouted.

The two, along with hundreds of other people took off away from the Towers. Silas heard a rumble, and a shadow fell over them; knowing they couldn't out run it, he skidded to a stop in front of a convenience store.

"What the hell are you doing?" The woman screamed.

Silas ignored her, and tried to pull open the door; it was locked. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the wall of ground concrete and gypsum hurtling towards them. Silas braced himself and smashed his left shoulder into the glass. He quickly stuck his arm in and unlocked the door from the inside.

"Come on!" He grabbed the woman and pulled her inside. He ran to the counter and vaulted over it, the red-head on his heels. The both crouched down behind the counter and without even realizing what he was doing, Silas wrapped his arms around the woman, and pulled her close.

XXX

_10:13 a.m._

Casey couldn't stop shaking. She felt the man letting go of her.

"I'm going to let you go, ok?" His voice was soft, like velvet.

Casey nodded. "Alright…" He her let go, and cautiously stood up, peeking over the counter. Casey glanced at her green sweater; there was blood on it.

Casey checked herself over, but there wasn't a single cut on her. She glanced up at the man; the shoulder he used to break the door was bleeding a bit.

"You're bleeding…" Casey said, touching his elbow.

"Huh?" He looked at his shoulder. "Oh."

"Give me your tie." Casey said.

"Why?" he asked.

"I'll wrap it up for you, so it doesn't get infected."

The man looked at her, and removed his black tie; Casey took it, and quickly wrapped his shoulder with it.

"Thank you." The man stood up, and helped Casey to her feet. They walked outside together, covering the faces with their sleeves so that they wouldn't inhale the dust.

Casey couldn't see anything except the well-dressed hippie/cop; the dust was like a thick fog that blocked everything else out.

"Hello?" The cop called out. "Anyone?"

The two groped around until they found more people, including a few firefighters and police officers.

The two stumbled over the stunned officers. "Federal agent!" the man called. "Federal agent!"

The officers looked up. "You ok?" One of the firefighters asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The man put a protective hand on Casey's shoulder.

"What's going to happen now?" Casey asked.

One of the firefighters looked back up; the dust was clearing and only one Tower was standing now, still burning. "I don't think anyone knows."

XXX

_2:57 a.m. 9/12/2001_

Alex hadn't turned the TV off since she first heard of the attacks. The phone hadn't left her hand either. She tried to call him every hour on the hour, but it just went straight to voicemail.

The news coverage scared her; there were so many people missing, so many presumed dead. Alex just kept praying that Silas Shag wasn't one of them.

When she heard the knock at the door, Alex almost jumped out of her skin. _'It has to be him…'_ she thought. _'No one else knows about us…'_

She opened the door, and just like she predicted, Silas Shag was standing in her doorway, covered in dust and blood, his usually immaculate clothes torn and ruined. His tie was wrapped around his left shoulder.

Alex wrapped her arms around him and sobbed into his shirt. "I was so scared…" Alex cried. "I thought you were dead…"

"I'm fine…" His voice held no emotion. Alex looked up at him; his eyes were glazed over, like he was somewhere else. "I need to shower…"

Alex nodded; he gently pushed past her, and walked like a zombie to the bathroom.

About a half an hour later Silas poked his head out of the bathroom. "I need your help."

Alex walked into the bathroom; She noticed that his left arm was wrapped in a bit of gauze and his hands and forearms were cut up. "What do you need?"

Silas handed her an electric hair clipper. "Cut it off. Cut it all off."

Alex looked at the clippers then to Silas. "I thought you-"

"I have to go back out there. It gets in the way." He deadpanned.

Alex just nodded. "Just promise me something."

"What?"

"Be careful."

Silas didn't say anything. He just wrapped his arms around Alex and pulled her close. The woman he held fifteen hours prior was forgotten; he couldn't have remembered the color of her hair even if he wanted to.

XXX

_12:36 a.m. 7/19/2008_

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes, Casey." Silas pulled Casey close to him, and kissed her playfully on the mouth. "Pleading that girl out was the right thing to do."

"What about the little boy she almost killed?" Casey asked. "He may never be able to walk again! I could have buried her in court! You know, get justice for the victim?"

"Casey, she was a victim too! The attempted vehicular homicide was also an attempted suicide, because she was abused and raped by her boyfriend!"

Casey looked away from his sapphire gaze. "I know, I know… But still…"

Silas let out an exasperated sigh. "SVU rule number one, Casey: You don't win, even when you do." He said as he rolled over to his side of the bed.

Casey exhaled and rolled over so she was spooning up to him. "Are you mad at me?" She whispered, kissing his shoulder.

Silas looked over his shoulder and gave her a small smile. "No, absolutely not. I know how hard it is to do what you do."

Casey smiled and went to kiss the smooth skin of his shoulder again, but paused when she noticed a thick white scar. "Where'd you get this one? I've never seen it before…" She asked, tracing the mark.

He looked over his shoulder again. "Got it on 9/11. I busted open a glass door so me and this woman could get away from the dust cloud. She wrapped it up for me with my own tie." At that piece of information, Casey's breath hitched.

"She did?"

"Yeah…"

"Did you two hide behind the counter of a convenience store? You held her…?"

She felt Silas' body tense up. "Yeah…" He rolled over. "Oh my God…" They looked each other over, like they were seeing each other for the first time. "It was… _you_?"

"It _was_ you…" Casey examined his features. "I can't see his face, well, _your_ face… But I remember the ridiculous hair and beard…"

"Hey!" Silas' brows furrowed. "You were more… red…" He retorted, running his fingers through her soft, strawberry-blonde hair.

"What are the odds…?" Casey murmured against him lips. "The man who saves me on 9/11 is the man I'm in love with seven years later…"

"I heard somewhere, that the past is an interconnecting web of events, all ruled by chance." Silas said, kissing her. "But maybe it's not. Fate's a funny thing."

XXX

So, I hope you all enjoyed this!

I wasn't there, so some details might be a bit shaky, but I still hope you enjoyed…

Other than the tribute part of this, I've always been fascinated with the idea of fate and how paths cross and blah blah blah… Ya know, people you bump into on the street, complete and total strangers, may one day be your best friend, or your spouse in the case of Casey and Silas. I know it's unrealistic, but hey! One can always dream…

So I'd really enjoy some reviews… yeah… Thanks again for reading!


End file.
